Stall partition



1943. F. J. VAN COTT ET AL 2,326,582

STALL PART I TION Filed Feb. 19, 1940 'catch, latch or other Patented Aug. 10, 1943 UNITED 1 STATES I STALL PARTITIQN Frank Van Cott and Leon J. Van Unadilla, N. Y

'7 Application February 19, anagram. sia sa V g eoiaimawol. 119 ,15) Q21.

In cases where domestic kariimals are keptin stalls it is frequently desirable to provide aparti- 'tion to separate adjacent animals.

"Particularly in a dairy barn it is desirable to separate the cows for a number of reasons. proper partition holds the cows ,in place during the milking operation, keeps the'cows cleaner because they cannot turn sideways on the platform, and prevents a cow from stepping on a neighbors udder- Ordinary fixedpartitions, however, have sev- If they are fastened to the.

eral disadvantages. floor they make'cleaning of the floor moredifficult. Furthermore, a restricted space makes. it necessary for cows to back out of the stall i face. V 1

With these and-other. objects in view,=our inventionccnsist's in the construction, arrange pointed outin our. claims, and illustrated inpthe and over the gutter when theyare released after milking. A cow is awkward-and. is verylikely to slip or stumble and sometimes fall when backing out of a stall. 7

Hence, it'is desirableto provide a partition which can be moved out of the way to permit cleaning of the barn, and to permit cows to turn on the platform instead of backing out of the stall. 7

It' istherefore an object of our invention to provide a movable stall partition which 'canbe raised out of the normal partitioning position when desired.

Another object is to provide a pivotally supported partition bar in which the supporting hinge or pivot is intermediate theends 'of the bar so that one end can be lowered while the other end is raised to an upright position, wherebythe partition can be readily used in lowceiling barns. V 1 I 7 Another object is to provide a partition: which does not require any fastening or support on the floor, and which thusleaves the fioor .-s ubstantially unobstructed for cleaning.

Another object is to provide a partition-bar which can be swung uplout of the normalpartitioning position into an upright position, and which will stay in the upright position without a auxiliary apparatus to hold it. V

A further object is the provision of a partition bar having a portion adjacent theend thereof hinged or otherwise jointedly fastened to the main portion of the ban-whereby the overall lengthof the device can. be shortened when desired, permitting the partition to be raised to I vertical position even in a barn with a very low ceiling. I A h I Still anotherobject is to provide a partition bar which shall be particularly adaptable to accompanyin'g'drawing, in'which: U

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a device embodying -.our invention, and showing the portions of an animal stall with which the, device is used. r i

Figure2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the 1ine 22 of Figure l. v i

. V Figure S'is' a vertical sectional -Viewjtaken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure '4 isa fragmentary"horizontal section V on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. v v f'Figure. 5 is anjenlarged] fragmentary view showing abortion of the en'd of. our partition bar adapted for holding'jthe tail of an. animal.

.In the i-acconipanying drawing, wehave used The partition means of our invention includes a bar 34 whichwe preferably make jof wood,"but

which may be made of an other suitably light and strong zmater'ialiq lriits horizontal position, ,as' at the'right in Figure 1,'th'e bar 34 is 'sup-':

'portedIatfa-point intermediate its ends by a,

' yoke 53. The yoke passes underthebar 3%,"and

is retained thereagainst by a 'stra'p fiif This strap Y is formedto allowa limited ireedom of motion a or the. yoke, longitudinally of the bar 34. The ends'ofthe yokeareattached to the t'op rail ld by eye bolts, 52;. any pivotalfattachment may beused. f

: fOne end of the bar '34 is fastened to the upright. l2 by means whichfpermit the end of the bar tolslide vertically along theupright. A rod I8 is fixed tothe' uprights-fljzfby retainers 2 2.

The retainers areslit in their mid-portion: to form parallel straps 24 2 5 and-'28,. Thefstrap portion 28 is struck. inwardly, so that itv passes j around theilinside'off the rod iSfas shown in j Eigure i. I The straps. 24 and 25 pass a ro nd the outside-of the rod.

holding the tail for acow tokeep the tail-clean and to keep itiromiswitching themilker. inthe- Twoiretainersformed'as describedIare-slip the rod are turned at right angles to the principal portion of it, thus holding the retainers on the rod.

When the fastening is made to the uprights l2 the retainers 22 are separated as far as possible along the rod l8 so that the stubs 20 are brought into engagement with the straps 28 on the retainers 22: "Ihus,';after theret'aihe'rs are fastened tothe uprights, longitudinal vertical movement of the rod I8 is prevented.

The strips 22 are preferably formed of wrought iron. or similar malleable material so that they can behammered into shape to conform to various kinds of uprights l2,

The rod I8 is mounted with the stub portions 20 turned inwardly toward the upright I2 whereby the rod is spaced away from the upright, leava ing ample room for sliding action of the partition mounting.

The partition bar 34 is f stened on a pivot 36 which passes through a U-shaped clip 38 formed in a manner very similar to the retainers '22. The'clip 33 has st'raps4ii,42 and 44 which pass on one side of the'rod i8; and straps 46 and 48 which pass on the other side of the rod. The strap portions and 48 are formed in much the same manner as the strap 28 on the strips 22;

The straps 4 0, 42 and 44 and the straps 46 andtal position, as shown at the right of'F igure ,1,

or may be tipped up into verticalpos'ition, as at theieft in Figure 1. It will be appreciated that the sliding mount of the, pivoted end of the bar 34 permits a partition bar of suitable length to be used 'ina barn.

with a low ceiling, because although the partition when in-us'e must be supported at arheight perhap two feet from the floor, in order to be effective, yet the pivoted end slides downwardly as the bar is tipped to vertical position and thus gives greater head clearance withla bar of given length than would befthe case if the bar had a fixed pivot mounting to the upright I 2 at the proper height. g V j It may be desirable in some cases. to have a bar 34 of such length that even our sliding mount for the pivotedend' will not allow the bar to clear a low ceiling. Insuch a'case' we supplement the bar 34 by an extension piece 56 which may be attached to the bar 34 by ahinge 31 or in any other suitable manner. a v

If a hinge such as 51 is used we prefer to place it on the top side of thebar 34, inasmuch as the extension piece 56 can be opened into extended position as shown at the right in Figure I, when the bar 34 is in horizontal position and the extension will be supported in proper position by the abutment of itshinged end with the end of the bar :4. when it is desired to raise the par tition out of the way the extension piece 56 is firstfolded over onto theubar 34 and the bar,

34 i then raised toyertical position. i It is preferable to proportionthe bar 34, and any extension piece such as 56, insuch a manner that'the centroid or center of gravity of the assemblyshall come at some point beyond the attachment of the yoke memberjifi. In other Words the center of gravity or the assembly 2,326,582 1;". f; j onto the rod, and short stubs 20 at the ends of shown in Figure l as consisting of the bar 34 and the extension 56 should be at a point somewhat to the right, inrthe figure, of the strap 54.

derstood that any further movement, after the,

position at the right is reached, would result in downward movement of all points on the bar beyond the strap 54. The center of gravity is one such point, and to say that further movement of the partition would lower the center of .gravity is simply to say that the partition will remain stablyin the extended position. Further movement is limited by the engagement of the clip 38 with the upper retainer 22, but no additional means is required to hold the device at this limit of its movement.

. On theother hand, as the partition is raised, and approaches the position shown at the left in F gure 1 the-jcenter or, gravity is a ain'moving downwardly, and the bar will therefore remain safely in the upright position, without the necessity of any latch, catch, or other weights than the partition itself to hold it. .There'is no danger or hazard of injury or annoyance from the possibility that the bar may fall out of place bea cause of a defective latch;

The fact that our partition bare mo nte with loose joints, and by members (such as the yoke 54) which permit considerable flexibility,

-makes it adaptable for supporting the tail of an animal, without much d nger of injury to the "animal; Particularly with cows it is frequently desirable to hold the tail'in some manner to keep it fr'orn switching in the 'm'ilke'rs face. on the end of. the partition bar 34We provide a loop which may be formed of a rod or heavy iie,, a'nd the form of which is most clearly shown in Figure 5. The portion 58' "of the loop is formed substantially as a circleyand is supported, at a short distance from the' end of the extension piece 56 by th'portion 50. The bushy part of the animals tail is hooked around the portion '60 and given one or perhaps two turns therearound, thus forming a hitch which does not readily become disengaged. The ring portion 53 constitutes an enlargement which keeps the hitohj'fr'oin loosening. V is I The partition bar whichwehavethus provided has a number or distinctive advantages. It can be easily moved into partitioning, position'before the live stock are driven into theystalls but it canbe meved intoout-bf-th'e-way position'with equal ease when desired, as during" the milking oper eue-n erwhenturning the stock out of the stems. I

The'vertical position of the bar when not in use does away with the possibility of hitting ones head while cleaning the platform, or while'stam chioning or milking the stock, 1 The loose fastenings of the pivot mountings of the partition bar,

and particularly the freedom allowed by the elon gated loop in the strap 54Qpe1init the bar to move upward some distance and fall back in place in case anammarshoui'd get u under'the bar after lying down. i

zThe tail-holding device on the end of the bar may be formed Of sprifigWire, thus foilriirig a bumper on the end of the bar, which prevents injury to stock if they moi e against the endof Some changes maybe made in the construe t-ion and arrangement of the parts of our device Witheiit departing" flbifi the ieail spirit and 'urpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims, any modified formsof structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within theirscope.

We claim as our invention:

1. A construction for a stall partition including support means, a guide rod supported in vertical position on said Support means, a U-s'haped member extending loosely around said rods-top means limiting upward movement of said ,U- shaped member on said rod, a partition member pivotally supported between the legs of said U- shaped member, and a yoke, the ends of said yoke being pivotally'secured to said support means at horizontally spaced points above said guide rod and the midpoint of said yoke being attached to said partition member.

2. In a stall partition for low-ceiling a support, a partition bar, means slidably mounting one end of said bar on said support, a stop limiting upward movement of said mounting means, a V-shaped yoke having its apex secured to said bar intermediate the ends thereof and its legs secured to said support at horizontally spaced points above the mounting of said bar on said support, and extension means on the free end of said bar.

3. In an animal stall construction, a supporting frame, a partition bar, means slidably mounting one end of said partition bar on said supporting frame, stop means on said supporting frame to limit upward movement of the slidable mountextension memberholdingthe latter'in extended tion journaled on the bar and having the free ends of the arms hinged on said stanchion in-a ing means at a point where said partition bar is substantially horizontal, and rigid tie means pivotally secured to said partition bar intermediate the ends thereof, and also pivotally secured to said supporting frame, whereby raising of the 'outer end of said partition bar causes the lower end thereof to move downwardly on said slidable mounting means.

4. In a partition for an animal stall, a supporting frame, a partition bar, means mounting one end of said partition barcfor vertical sliding movement on said supporting frame, stop i means limiting upward movement of said one.

end of said partition bar, tie means pivotally S3" end of said partition bar, and an extension ber attached to said bar by'said hinge, the abutting relations of the ends of said bar and said position when opened outward. I

5. In a stanchion partition, superimposed spaced brackets secured on the stanchion, a rod mounted on the stanchion by said brackets and arranged vertically, a partition bar, a collar slidable on the rod and pivotally connected to said bar whereby said bar may assume vertical and horizontal positions, and a substantially V- shaped yoke including a. connecting portion and diverging arms and having the connecting porplane above the uppermost bracket.

6; In a stanchion partition having'apartition bar, one end of which isslidable vertically on a rod mounted on the stanchion, means for joining the bar to the'rod consisting of a U-shaped' member, the side plates of the U embracing the end of the bar and being pivotally connected thereto, and the bend of the U being horizontally slit to form a plurality of'straps, alternate Y ones of which pass on opposite sides ofv the rod, stop means limiting the'upward movement of said U-shaped member with respect to said rod, and rigid V-shaped tie means pivotally connect-c ed at its mid-point to a point on said bar intermediate the ends thereof, and pivotally connected at its ends to horizontally spaced points on the stanchion.

FRANK'J. VANVCOT'I.

LEON J. VAN COTT; 

